Opinion + Saving money | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+money/saving-money
Indexen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016Fri, 09 Dec 2016 15:39:19 GMT2016-12-09T15:39:19Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2016The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Ever-lower interest rates have failed. It’s time to raise them | Mary Dejevskyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/14/lower-interest-rates-failed-spending-retirement
<p>Spending has not been stimulated. Worse, low rates conflict with government messages about responsible saving for retirement</p><p>When the Bank of England reduced the base rate to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/04/bank-of-england-cuts-uk-interest-rates" title="">a record low</a> this month, there was one, tiny consolation for savers. The governor, Mark Carney – almost the only individual to have emerged from the Brexit shambles unscathed – said he was “not a fan” of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/feb/18/negative-interest-rates-what-you-need-to-know" title="">negative interest rates</a>. He thus seemed&nbsp;to rule out the nightmare – for&nbsp;anyone even just in the black – that&nbsp;we would have to pay the banks for keeping our money, rather than the&nbsp;other way round.</p><p>Carney’s effective rejection of negative rates – as already introduced in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/25/negative-interest-rates-the-case-against-john-maynard-keynes" title="">Japan and Sweden</a> – was welcome. But it does little to help UK savers, who are recommended, in that infuriating phrase, to “shop around” for higher rates. Shop around if you like, but I was recently informed by two banks that rates were being reduced below 0.5%, and short of entrusting your cash to an emerging market, real options are few.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/05/recession-bank-england-money-uk-households">Want to avoid recession? Then shower UK households with cash | Simon Jenkins</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/12/low-interest-rates-investment-funds-savers">With interest rates low, investment funds look attractive</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/14/lower-interest-rates-failed-spending-retirement">Continue reading...</a>Interest ratesSaving moneyBank of EnglandEconomicsEconomic growth (GDP)Economic policyUK newsSun, 14 Aug 2016 16:47:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/14/lower-interest-rates-failed-spending-retirementIllustration: Ellie Foreman PeckIllustration: Ellie Foreman PeckMary Dejevsky2016-08-14T16:47:56ZSteve Webb's pensions U-turn is a dead duck on the dust heap of disasters | Polly Toynbeehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/steve-webb-pension-u-turn-dead-duck
The government's bold assault on the industry has failed to materialise, and the grand theft mis-selling continues<p>Burglars thrive when they know they can't be seen. Of all the dark places, nowhere is more obscure than inside the black box of pension funds. Virtually no one understands their pension scheme. Even those who think they do can't know what is shrouded in secrecy: the real charges paid over a lifetime, hidden in the dark where City burglars prosper.</p><p>Yesterday, faced with the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25860239" title="">mass obstruction of the pensions industry</a> – in effect the entire City – the government beat a hasty retreat. Sneaking out a written statement and avoiding questions, Steve Webb, the pensions minister, backed away from capping the charges imposed by pension funds, most of them secret. To understand the full force of this U-turn, here's what Webb boldly announced last October: he would conduct <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/oct/29/pensions-minister-full-frontal-assault-rip-off-schemes-webb" title="">"a full frontal assault" on the pensions industry</a>. He calculated someone saving £100 a month all their working life could see "the huge sum of £160,000" lost in charges. "Enough is enough," he said, urging "an outright ban on all charges above 0.75%".</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/steve-webb-pension-u-turn-dead-duck">Continue reading...</a>PensionsConservativesPoliticsEd MilibandFinancial sectorYoung peopleSaving moneySavingsSocietyBusinessMoneyUK newsFri, 24 Jan 2014 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/24/steve-webb-pension-u-turn-dead-duckPhotograph: David Jones/PASteve Webb, the pensions minister. Photograph: David Jones/PAPhotograph: David Jones/PASteve Webb, the pensions minister. Photograph: David Jones/PAPolly Toynbee2014-01-24T06:00:00ZSpend, spend, spend. Because your savings aren't worth a damn | Lionel Shriverhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/28/uk-interest-rates-savings-spend
It's no coincidence that just at the moment the UK government needs a recovery, interest rates are nailed to the floor<p>Organising my 2012-13 UK tax return this month, I compiled the&nbsp;year's interest earnings. Joint current account: net interest received £1.68, tax £0.39. Personal current account: interest received £0.19, tax £0.06. Then the big kahuna, my savings account, where I really sock away what I might need for a rainy day: interest received £14.10, tax £3.55. Wow – at least&nbsp;enough to pick up a handsome selection of Quality Street.</p><p>I can't be the only UK taxpayer who records these miserable bank payments in a state of rage. I could have earned more than I made in interest last year in the time it took me to type the account numbers. Such a pittance does interest income now produce that savers would at least appreciate the issuance of a blanket policy statement: "Not wishing to add insult to injury, HMRC no longer requires taxpayers to humiliate themselves by reporting contemptuously small interest payments, in which the nation's fiscal authorities are complicit. FYI, we'll no longer dun your pathetic interest for taxes, either, as it costs us more than 6p to extract those pennies from your current account."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/28/uk-interest-rates-savings-spend">Continue reading...</a>SavingsOlder peopleFinancial crisisEconomicsBankingFinancial sectorBusinessBanks and building societiesMoneySaving moneySavings ratesSocietyUK newsSat, 28 Dec 2013 07:59:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/28/uk-interest-rates-savings-spendPhotograph: Guardian‘As our life expectancy rises, the rainy day for which we all need to save could last for more than 30 years.' Illustration by Phil DisleyPhotograph: Guardian‘As our life expectancy rises, the rainy day for which we all need to save could last for more than 30 years.' Illustration by Phil DisleyLionel Shriver2013-12-28T07:59:00ZHave you saved enough for retirement? | Open threadhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/03/have-you-saved-enough-for-retirement
Many people will not be able to afford to retire before they reach 70, a report suggests. Tell us if you're worried about old age<p>Workers in their 40s and 50s have been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/03/middle-aged-work-70-retirement-pot" title="">badly affected</a> by recent economic problems in the UK, according to a new report. Coupled with the average property debt that people in this age bracket are often responsible for, research suggests that for many, retirement may have to be delayed until at least 70.</p><p>A survey by Scottish Widows suggests that one in five people are not saving for retirement at all, and a third are not saving enough. Have you carefully planned your retirement fund? Have you set by extra money each month to ensure that you'll live comfortably in your old age? Has your pension plan collapsed, and you have no idea how you'll manage when you retire? Tell us your pension arrangements and let us know if you'll have to work later in life.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/03/have-you-saved-enough-for-retirement">Continue reading...</a>Retirement planningFamily financesMoneyOlder peopleSocietyUK newsPensionsRetirement ageWork & careersSavingsSaving moneyMon, 03 Jun 2013 11:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/03/have-you-saved-enough-for-retirementPhotograph: Roger Bamber/AlamyWill you still be looking for work in your 70s? Photograph: Roger Bamber/AlamyPhotograph: Roger Bamber/AlamyWill you still be looking for work in your 70s? Photograph: Roger Bamber/AlamyOpen thread2013-06-03T11:30:01ZNick Clegg's plan to use pensions for house deposits has shaky foundations | Ros Altmannhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/24/nick-clegg-pensions-house-deposits
Rather than raiding older people's pension pots, why not try incentives to help young people save for a deposit?<p>Is Nick Clegg serious <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/23/nick-clegg-pension-pots-property" title="">about using older people's pension pots for younger people's house deposits</a>? There are not enough details yet, but the concept of pledging future pensions to help young people buy homes really does seem a very odd idea. Surely it makes more sense to try to use some of the value of older generations' homes to help younger people buy a house, rather than using their pensions?</p><p>Borrowing against future pensions has a number of drawbacks. Firstly, the value of people's pensions many years hence is not guaranteed. Most pensions are invested in assets that will rise or fall over time, depending on the markets. Secondly, most people will need their pensions to support them in retirement, or for later life care needs. Thirdly, borrowing against a future pension lump sum would be more expensive than taking the money out of the pension fund and using it directly.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/24/nick-clegg-pensions-house-deposits">Continue reading...</a>Liberal Democrat conference 2012PropertyFamily financesNick CleggPoliticsMoneyUK newsLiberal DemocratsLiberal Democrat conferenceHouse pricesSaving moneySavingsRetirement planningPensionsMon, 24 Sep 2012 11:15:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/24/nick-clegg-pensions-house-depositsPhotograph: David Cheskin/PA'Young people would benefit more from saving to buy a house than from locking their money into a pension which can’t be touched for decades.' Photograph: David Cheskin/PAPhotograph: David Cheskin/PA'Young people would benefit more from saving to buy a house than from locking their money into a pension which can’t be touched for decades.' Photograph: David Cheskin/PARos Altmann2012-09-24T11:15:01ZWrite for us on … supermarket price wars | The people's panelhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/supermarket-price-wars-tesco
We're looking for householders and those with a commercial interest to tell us how Tesco's move to cut prices will affect them<p>Tesco is about to launch a new price war, cutting the cost of more than 3,000 of its products as part of its new campaign. Tesco currently accounts of every <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2040164/MARKET-REPORT-Supermarket-giant-Tesco-market-price-war.html" title="This is Money: Tesco in market for a price war">£1 out of every £7</a> spent on the high street – their decision will not only impact on consumers, but also producers, marketers and competitors. The announcement <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/sep/21/tesco-price-war-threatens-supermarkets?newsfeed=true" title="Guardian: Tesco's price war threat sends supermarket shares plunging">sent supermarket shares plunging</a>, and other stores are expected to respond aggressively in the coming weeks.</p><p>Tesco's move will have an impact not only on households, and we are also interested in exploring the ramifications of their marketing strategy. Are you a shopper delighted at the news – and will it allow you to buy more for less? Will you switch from your usual supermarket to Tesco? Are you a producer, worried about having your product bought at a lower price? Are you a small competitor, ready to take on the challenge? Or are you a shareholder who is delighted or nervous at the move?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/supermarket-price-wars-tesco">Continue reading...</a>TescoRetail industrySupermarketsBusinessUK newsMoneyConsumer affairsSaving moneyFamily financesMon, 26 Sep 2011 11:01:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/26/supermarket-price-wars-tescoPhotograph: imagebroker / Alamy/AlamyTesco is set to launch a new supermarket price war. Photograph: AlamyPhotograph: imagebroker / Alamy/AlamyTesco is set to launch a new supermarket price war. Photograph: AlamyThe people's panel2011-09-26T11:01:59ZAwful ads, crass jingles and Dale Winton – daytime TV fodder is now primetimehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/06/hadley-freeman-daytime-tv
In a recession we're assumed to be sitting ducks for any money-saving tip<p>Cynics are predictable and pessimists are kind of a downer, but it has to be admitted that so far the twenty-teens aren't looking too hot. Rush Limbaugh is alive, despite Wikipedia's most solemn assurances that he died on New Year's Eve; John Major has returned to the centre stage looking as undeservedly morally superior as ever; and sodding Bono has written yet another editorial for the New York Times about how to change the world for the better. Funnily enough, "take off these stupid sunglasses" did not appear on Bono's list. Nor did "stop writing self-important editorials in the New York Times". But "Steve Jobs to start designing cars" made it in there at number one. It's a beautiful day!</p><p>I have, though, managed to truffle out one semi-upside to the ensuing recessionary gloom that is the next few years.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/06/hadley-freeman-daytime-tv">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioTalk showsGame showsReality TVCultureMoneySaving moneyFamily financesWed, 06 Jan 2010 09:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/06/hadley-freeman-daytime-tvPhotograph: Ken McKay / Rex Features/GuardianDale Winton . . . the face of cashmygold.co.uk. Photograph: Ken McKay/RexPhotograph: Ken McKay / Rex Features/GuardianDale Winton . . . the face of cashmygold.co.uk. Photograph: Ken McKay/RexHadley Freeman2010-01-06T09:00:03ZDavid McKie: Money saving tips - zinc, leaves and toadshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/27/recession-money-saving-tips
All of these can save you money, according to a Victorian book on thrift (which cost only 35p)<p>Thrift, it seems, is all the rage at the moment. David Cameron yesterday promised "a new government of thrift", and the bookshops are full of guides on how to economise - which you may pick up for a mere £10 or so. But why shell out £10 when you can still dig out a book published in a time which knew far more about thrift than we do, for a miserly 35p - as I did the other day when I bought in a charity shop a publication called Enquire Within Upon Everything, published by Houlston and Sons in 1891: 416 pages of expert advice for only 0.08p per page (though in practice a smidgen more, since some of the pages are missing).</p><p>No matter: there's a wealth of advice on how to be parsimonious among 2,768 items that begin with Choices of Articles of Food and end with the rules of badminton. The range of its recommendations is illustrated by the index, which the author - nameless, though often assertive, even treating us to homely anecdotes about his wife and his friends - describes as "the knocker, with which the door of knowledge may be opened". This begins with Ablutions, Frequent, Salutary Effects of, and ends with seven entries dedicated to zinc. Many of these have to do with curbing unnecessary expenditure, on the principle, explained in one of the nutshell homilies that decorate every page, that "economy is the easy chair of old age". "Trust not him who seems more anxious to give credit than to receive cash," says maxim number 992, advice as apposite now as when this 85th edition of Houlston and Sons' vade mecum, having already sold 1,134,000 copies, was issued. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/27/recession-money-saving-tips">Continue reading...</a>RecessionMoneyPoliticsUK newsSaving moneyConsumer affairsSun, 26 Apr 2009 23:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/27/recession-money-saving-tipsDavid McKie2009-04-26T23:01:00ZLucy Berrington: Our parents' 1940s frugality is obsololete in a 21st-century economyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/12/savings-frugality-recession
Today, our parents' wartime frugality is obsolete. Cutting back on modest expenses still won't make ends meet<p>"Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves," says the hopeful English adage. No doubt taking care of the pennies helped get millions of households through the deprivation associated with world wars, depressions global and personal and mere crushing reality. If there were fridge magnets or inspirational postcards in the 1940s – and people gormless enough to buy them – that's what they'd have said. <br> <br>After moving to the United States in 1997, for at least a decade I didn't hear anything about taking care of the pennies. This might be partly because translated into American, the phrase loses its karmic alliterative zing and becomes tired preaching about frugality. "Take care of the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves." Hell, no.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_42/b4104054847273_page_2.htm">Until recently</a>. Recently the words have changed, but the concept is everywhere. <a href="http://consumerist.com/5018166/twelve-necessities-that-drain-your-cash">Give up Starbucks lattes and save</a> more than $1,200 a year. (That one inevitably makes the top five in <a href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Commentary/ByTopic/SaveMoneyIndex.aspx">articles</a> on How to Be a Cheapskate.) Unplug the appliances and save $100 a year. Turn down the thermostat by two degrees. Cash in your rebates, shop for cheaper insurance, use the <a href="http://www.spendingless101.com/2008/03/29/save-money-by-switching-to-compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs/">curly light bulbs</a>, drive slower to save gas. In all its re-invented contemporary guises, suddenly the English adage is coming at Americans relentlessly. But does it still hold true? This 21st-century recession seems the obvious time to test it. <br> <br>The methodology is already in place, for as I've grown up and calmed down my behaviour has changed in small, relevant ways. These are not specifically about saving money, more about having less patience for waste. I boil up chicken carcasses to make stock, print on both sides of the paper, visit the library instead of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a>. I bake bread, and sometimes (this is slightly embarrassing) blitz the leftover crusts into breadcrumbs. These acts come with a frugal-'40s-housewife glow. But the glow is faint, even with an approving glance from my boyfriend, who is still traumatised by a previous relationship with a shopaholic.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/12/savings-frugality-recession">Continue reading...</a>US newsWorld newsFinancial crisisUS economic growth and recessionSaving moneyFri, 13 Mar 2009 13:47:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/mar/12/savings-frugality-recessionLucy Berrington2009-03-13T13:47:16ZPolly Toynbee: It might sound appealing, but this is populist poisonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/06/conservatives-plan-recession
The Conservative plan for retrenchment and thrift is economically illiterate. It would have disastrous consequences if enacted<p>The ideological gap just yawned yet wider as David Cameron sprang into the New Year with tigerish ferocity. The longer Labour is in power, he said, the worse it gets - for the economy, national debt, crime, education, welfare dependency, the health service and family breakdown; all worse, worse, worse. Broken Britain needs an election now when "change is going to come". But president-elect Barack Obama, Cameron is certainly not. As the new president plans a trillion-dollar Keynesian stimulus in the United States economy, Cameron retreats into Thatcher's 1980s. Every time he speaks, he climbs deeper into the recesses of her handbag economics, preaching thrift and a bonfire of public spending.</p><p>He is right that this year things can only get much worse: every economic commentator says so. Any government seeking re-election after a year like 2009 with three million unemployed and gaping black holes in high street shopfronts can expect an uphill struggle. On the face of it, Cameron should walk it with constant finger-pointing - who was at the wheel when the economy crashed? Revenge is a strong voting motive. Superficially, he has all the best lines. The question is whether his phoney economics fool enough of the people enough of the time. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/06/conservatives-plan-recession">Continue reading...</a>David CameronConservativesEconomic policyPoliticsEconomicsRecessionCredit crunchSaving moneyTaxTax and spendingMoneyBusinessUK newsPublic financeSocietyPublic services policyTue, 06 Jan 2009 00:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/06/conservatives-plan-recessionPolly Toynbee2009-01-06T00:01:00Z